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CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW A CRISIS ~ “Time is Running Out” ~ Let’s Admit It!
by Frack Check WV: S. Tom Bond 25 Mar '23

25 Mar '23

# [CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW A CRISIS ~ “Time is Running Out” ~ Let’s Admit It!](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/25/climate-change-is-now-a- crisis-%e2%80%9ctime-is-running-out%e2%80%9d-let%e2%80%99s-admit-it/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/F8803F69-0E91-4FF0-9248-3793F51A3863.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/F8803F69-0E91-4FF0-9248-3793F51A3863.jpeg) Keeling Curve showing how carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere **' Time is Running Out,' American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate** From an [Article by Sharon Kelly, DeSmog Blog](https://www.desmog.com/2018/11/20/american-petroleum- institute-1965-speech-climate-change-oil-gas/), November 20, 2018 The warning is clear and dire — and the source unexpected. “This report unquestionably will fan emotions, raise fears, and bring demand for action,” the president of the American Petroleum Institute (API) told an oil industry conference, as he described research into climate change caused by fossil fuels. **“The substance of the report is that there is still time to save the world’s peoples from the catastrophic consequence of pollution, but time is running out.”** ~~~ The speaker wasn’t Mike Sommers, who was named to helm API this past May. Nor was it Jack Gerard, who served as API’s president for roughly a decade starting in 2008. **The API president speaking those words was named Frank Ikard — and the year was 1965, over a half-century ago.** It was the same year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Muhammad Ali felled Sonny Liston in the first round, and Malcom X was fatally shot in New York. The first American ground combat troops arrived in Vietnam and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law establishing Medicaid and Medicare. It would be another four years before American astronaut Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon — and another decade before the phrase “global warming” would appear for the first time in a peer-reviewed study. And 1965, according to a letter by Stanford historian Benjamin Franta published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, was the year that President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee published a report titled “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment,” whose findings Ikard described at that year’s annual API meeting. “One of the most important predictions of the report is that carbon dioxide is being added to the Earth’s atmosphere by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas at such a rate that by the year 2000 the heat balance will be so modified as possibly to cause marked changes in climate beyond local or even national efforts,” Ikard presciently added, according to excerpts from his speech published in Nature. **Text of a speech by American Petroleum Institute leadership on climate change** ~~~ _“This report unquestionably will fan emotions, raise fears, and bring demands for action. The substance of the report is that there is still time to save the world 's peoples from the catastrophic consequence of pollution, but time is running out. “One of the most important predictions of the report is that carbon dioxide is being added to the earth's atmosphere by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas at such a rate that by the year 2000 the heat balance will be so modified as possibly to cause marked changes in climate beyond local or even national efforts. “The report further states, and I quote: "..the pollution from internal combustion engines is so serious, and is growing so fast, that an alternative nonpolluting means of powering automobiles, buses, and trucks is likely to become a national necessity.”_ —- Exerpt of API President Frank Ikard’s 1965 speech on climate change and fossil fuels. **API Funded Early Research Linking CO2 and Fossil Fuels** That prediction was based in part on information that was known to the oil industry trade group for over a decade — including research that was directly funded by the API, according to Nature. In 1954, a California Institute of Technology geochemist sent the API a research proposal in which they reported that fossil fuels had already caused carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to rise roughly five percent since 1854 — a finding that Nature notes has since proved to be accurate. API accepted the proposal and funded that Caltech research, giving the program the name Project 53. Project 53 collected thousands of CO2 measurements — but the results were never published. Meanwhile, other researchers were reaching similar conclusions. Nuclear physicist Edward Teller became known in 1951 as the “father of the hydrogen bomb” for designing a thermonuclear bomb that was even more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Teller warned the oil and gas industry in 1959 about global warming and sea level rise in a talk titled “Energy Patterns of the Future.” “Carbon dioxide has a strange property,” Teller said in excerpts published earlier this year by The Guardian. “It transmits visible light but it absorbs the infrared radiation which is emitted from the earth. Its presence in the atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect.” A researcher at Humble Oil Co. (now known as ExxonMobil) checked results from a study of carbon isotopes in tree rings against the unpublished Caltech results, and found that the two separate methods essentially **And in 1960, Charles Keeling first published the measurements that became the famous “Keeling curve” — establishing one of the bedrock findings connecting climate change to fossil fuels. The CO2 measurements taken by Keeling back in the late 1950s showed levels of roughly 315 parts per million (ppm) at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii and rising.** **Those CO2 levels have since climbed upwards to 410.13 (ppm) on the day that the Nature letter was published — CO2 levels that scientists knew both then and now would be dangerously high, as carbon levels in the Earth’s atmosphere have not been over 410 ppm in millions of years.** **What the Oil Industry Knew, Then and Now (2018)** In his 1965 talk, the API’s Ikard described the role of oil and gasoline specifically in causing climate change. “The report further states, and I quote: ‘… the pollution from internal combustion engines is so serious, and is growing so fast,’” he told the API conference, “‘that an alternative nonpolluting means of powering automobiles, buses, and trucks is likely to become a national necessity.’” Three decades later, the API urged a different approach to climate science. “It’s not known for sure whether (a) climate change actually is occurring, or (b) if it is, whether humans really have any influence on it,” the API wrote in a 1998 draft memo titled “Global Climate Science Communications Plan,” which was subsequently leaked. It’s worth noting that since 1965, the science connecting climate change to fossil fuels has grown stronger and more robust. A scientific consensus around the hazards of climate change and the role that fossil fuels play in causing it has formed. “Rigorous analysis of all data and lines of evidence shows that most of the observed global warming over the past 50 years or so cannot be explained by natural causes and instead requires a significant role for the influence of human activities,” the Royal Society explains. **Today, the API continues to call for further research on climate change — and expanding the use of fossil fuels in the meantime.** “It is clear that climate change is a serious issue that requires research for solutions and effective policies that allow us to meet our energy needs while protecting the environment: that’s why oil and gas companies are working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,” the API’s webpage on climate change states. **“Yet archival documents show that even before Keeling published his measurements,” Franta’s letter published by Nature says, “oil industry leaders were aware that their products were causing CO2 pollution to accumulate in the planet’s atmosphere, in a potentially dangerous fashion.”** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/25/climate-change-is-now-a- crisis-%e2%80%9ctime-is-running-out%e2%80%9d-let%e2%80%99s-admit-it/>

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Major Event on the “IRA” @ Public Library in Wheeling, WV
by Frack Check WV: admin 24 Mar '23

24 Mar '23

# [Major Event on the “IRA” @ Public Library in Wheeling, WV](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/24/major-event-on- the-%e2%80%9cira%e2%80%9d-public-library-in-wheeling-wv/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/38322C17-C1B4-41FB- BE3A-BB0D9B1744DA-300x118.jpg)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/38322C17-C1B4-41FB-BE3A-BB0D9B1744DA.jpeg) West Virginia is in the Spotlight of transition already (Click on this image to magnify it) **To All Local Citizens & Residents Able to Attend** From the Coalition of Regional Organizations, CCAN, SUN, WV Rivers, CAG, New Jobs & WV-EE **How can the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) help YOU save money?** [Join our FREE event on Saturday, March 25th in Wheeling, WV](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ira-roadshow-wheeling-tickets-590196582867). For nearly two years, we endured the many bumps and roadblocks traversing the long and winding road that led us to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Now this historic climate legislation has the potential to deeply impact our lives and the world around us by investing in clean energy, energy efficiency and community development initiatives. But you might wonder… [How will the IRA actually impact YOUR life? Let us tell you!](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ira-roadshow-wheeling-tickets-5901965828… **Join us Saturday, March 25, at 12:30 PM in Wheeling for an exciting FREE in- person presentation on how the Inflation Reduction Act can benefit YOU and your community!** The IRA is full of unprecedented investments and ambitious climate policies that can cut climate pollution 40 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2035 while creating hundreds of thousands of family sustaining jobs while advancing racial, economic and environmental justice. _Are you in?_ Join us March 25 in Wheeling to learn how to sort through this enormous bill and find out how you can personally save money, make energy efficient updates to your home, uplift your community and much, much more! **CCAN will be joining forces with Leah Barbor from Solar United Neighbors, Morgan King from West Virginia Rivers, Dani Parent from West Virginia Citizen Action Group, Brandi Reece from WV New Jobs Coalition and Morgan Fowler from West Virginians for Energy Efficiency to show how individuals, municipalities, and organizations can benefit from millions of dollars of investments contained in the Inflation Reduction Act.** [Click here to RSVP for March 25 and learn how you and your community can benefit from these investments.](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ira-roadshow- wheeling-tickets-590196582867) **If you want to learn more but can’t make it to Wheeling** , rest assured! We have many more IRA Roadshows planned for the upcoming months. [Click this link to learn more about our next stops in Morgantown and Huntington](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ira-roadshow-wheeling- tickets-590196582867). **Invite everyone you know and we 'll see you there!** >>> Prepared by Holly Bradley, Federal Team, Chesapeake Climate Action Network URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/24/major-event-on- the-%e2%80%9cira%e2%80%9d-public-library-in-wheeling-wv/>

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EXXON knew quite accurately ~ some 45 years ago ~ about the Climate Crisis!
by Frack Check WV: admin 23 Mar '23

23 Mar '23

# [EXXON knew quite accurately ~ some 45 years ago ~ about the Climate Crisis!](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/23/exxon-knew-quite-accuratel… some-45-years-ago-about-the-climate-crisis/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/9F67D019-1B1B-43C8-8F41-5E46C00041B4-300x265.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/03/9F67D019-1B1B-43C8-8F41-5E46C00041B4.jpeg) EXXON knew more and pretended not …. **Exxon disputed climate findings for years & Its scientists knew better** From an [Article by Alice McCarthy, Harvard Gazette](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/01/harvard-led-analysi… finds-exxonmobil-internal-research-accurately-predicted-climate-change/), January 12, 2023 **Research shows that EXXON modeled and predicted global warming with 'shocking skill and accuracy' starting in the 1970s** GRAPH CITATION ~ Summary of all global warming projections reported by ExxonMobil scientists in internal documents between 1977 and 2003 (gray lines), superimposed on historically observed temperature change (red). Solid gray lines indicate global warming projections modeled by ExxonMobil scientists themselves; dashed gray lines indicate projections internally reproduced by ExxonMobil scientists from third-party sources. Shades of gray scale with model start dates, from earliest (1977: lightest) to latest (2003: darkest). Projections created internally by ExxonMobil starting in the late 1970s on the impact of fossil fuels on climate change were very accurate, even surpassing those of some academic and governmental scientists, according to an analysis published in Science by a team of Harvard-led researchers. Despite those forecasts, team leaders say, the multinational energy giant continued to sow doubt about the gathering crisis. In “ **Assessing ExxonMobil’s Global Warming Projections** ,” researchers from Harvard and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research show for the first time the accuracy of previously unreported forecasts created by company scientists from 1977 through 2003. The Harvard team discovered that Exxon researchers created a series of remarkably reliable models and analyses projecting global warming from carbon dioxide emissions over the coming decades. Specifically, Exxon projected that fossil fuel emissions would lead to 0.20 degrees Celsius of global warming per decade, with a margin of error of 0.04 degrees — a trend that has been proven largely accurate. **“This paper is the first ever systematic assessment of a fossil fuel company’s climate projections, the first time we’ve been able to put a number on what they knew,” said Geoffrey Supran, lead author and former research fellow in the History of Science at Harvard. “What we found is that between 1977 and 2003, excellent scientists within Exxon modeled and predicted global warming with, frankly, shocking skill and accuracy only for the company to then spend the next couple of decades denying that very climate science.”** “We thought this was a unique opportunity to understand what Exxon knew about this issue and what level of scientific understanding they had at the time,” added co-author Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science whose work looks at the causes and effects of climate change denial. “We found that not only were their forecasts extremely skillful, but they were also often more skillful than forecasts made by independent academic and government scientists at the exact same time.” Allegations that oil company executives sought to mislead the public about the industry’s role in climate change have drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, including lawsuits by several states and cities and a recent high profile U.S. House committee investigation. Harvard’s scientists used established Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) statistical techniques to test the performance of Exxon’s models. They found that, depending on the metric used, 63-83 percent of the global warming projections reported by Exxon scientists were consistent with actual temperatures over time. Moreover, the corporation’s own projections had an average “skill score” of 72 percent, plus or minus 6 percent, with the highest scoring 99 percent. A skill score relates to how well a forecast compares to what happens in real life. For comparison, NASA scientist James Hansen’s global warming predictions presented to the U.S. Congress in 1988 had scores from 38 to 66 percent. **The researchers report that Exxon scientists correctly dismissed the possibility of a coming ice age, accurately predicted that human-caused global warming would first be detectable in the year 2000, plus or minus five years, and reasonably estimated how much CO2 would lead to dangerous warming.** The current debate about when Exxon knew about the impact on climate change carbon emissions began in 2015 following news reports of internal company documents describing the multinational’s early knowledge of climate science. Exxon disagreed with the reports, even providing a link to internal studies and memos from their own scientists and suggesting that interested parties should read them and make up their own minds. “That’s exactly what we did,” said Supran, who is now at the University of Miami. Together, he and Oreskes spent a year researching those documents and in 2017 published a series of three papers analyzing Exxon’s 40-year history of climate communications. They were able to show there was a systematic discrepancy between what Exxon was saying internally and in academic circles versus what they were telling the public. “That led us to conclude that they had quantifiably misled the public, by essentially contributing quietly to climate science and yet loudly promoting doubt about that science,” said Supran. In 2021, the team published a new study in One Earth using algorithmic techniques to identify ways in which ExxonMobil used increasingly subtle but systematic language to shape the way the public talks and thinks about climate change — often in misleading ways. These findings were hardly a surprise to Oreskes, given her long history of studying climate communications from fossil fuel companies, work that drew national attention with her 2010 bestseller, “Merchants of Doubt.” In it she and co-author, Caltech researcher Erik Conway, argued that Exxon was aware of the threat of carbon emissions on climate change yet waged a disinformation campaign about the problem. Despite the book’s popularity and the peer- reviewed papers with Supran, however, some continued to wonder whether she could prove the effect these campaigns had, if they indeed made a difference. “I think this new study is the smoking gun, the proof, because it shows the degree of understanding … this really deep, really sophisticated, really skillful understanding that was obscured by what came next,” Oreskes said. “It proves a point I’ve argued for years that ExxonMobil scientists knew about this problem to a shockingly fine degree as far back as the 1980s, but company spokesmen denied, challenged, and obscured this science, starting in the late 1980s/early 1990s.” **Added Supran: “Our analysis here I think seals the deal on that matter. We now have totally unimpeachable evidence that Exxon accurately predicted global warming years before it turned around and publicly attacked climate science and scientists.”** >>> The authors of this research were supported by a Rockefeller Family Fund grant and Harvard University Faculty Development funds. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/23/exxon-knew-quite-accurately- some-45-years-ago-about-the-climate-crisis/>

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EXXONMOBIL Completes Major Refinery Expansion in East Texas
by Frack Check WV: admin 22 Mar '23

22 Mar '23

# [EXXONMOBIL Completes Major Refinery Expansion in East Texas](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/22/exxonmobil-completes-major- refinery-expansion-in-east-texas/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/59C0A05F-3120-4E36-BDA4-676BBBD4CA60.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/59C0A05F-3120-4E36-BDA4-676BBBD4CA60.jpeg) Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur form the Golden Triangle, the nickname of the 3 towns being the economic powers of East Texas. **ExxonMobil commissions Beaumont refinery expansion** . . From an [Article by Robert Brelsford, Oil & Gas Journal](https://www.ogj.com/refining- processing/refining/article/14291142/exxonmobil-commissions-beaumont-refinery- expansion), March 16, 2023 . . ExxonMobil Corp. has started up its long-planned project to expand light crude oil processing capacity by 250,000 b/d at ExxonMobil Product Solutions Co.’s integrated refining and petrochemicals complex along the US Gulf Coast in Beaumont, Tex. **Officially in operation as of Mar. 16, the $2-billion Beaumont expansion — completed on time and within budget despite difficulties posed by outbreak of the global pandemic following start of project construction in 2019 — increases the refinery’s overall crude processing capacity to more than 630,000 b/d, the operator said.** Proposed in 2018 and formally approved in early 2019, the expansion added a third crude unit and hydrotreaters to accommodate the operator’s growing Permian light crude production, to which the refinery is linked via pipeline. ExxonMobil said the Beaumont refinery’s new crude unit also will be well- positioned to further capitalize on segregated crude from the Permian’s Delaware basin. Delaware production will be delivered via the ExxonMobil Pipeline Co.-operated 650-mile, 36-in.Wink-to-Webster (W2W) pipeline that delivers to Webster, Baytown, and the Enterprise Crude Houston Oil terminal, in addition to providing connectivity to Texas City and Beaumont. An ExxonMobil spokesperson told OGJ the Beaumont refinery also has completed connecting pipeline additions at the site to accommodate the expansion’s increased intake and offtake of crude and finished products, respectively. “ExxonMobil maintained its commitment to the Beaumont expansion even through the lows of the pandemic, knowing consumer demand would return and new capacity would be critical in the post-pandemic economic recovery,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions. “The new crude unit enables us to produce even more transportation fuels at a time when demand is surging,” McKee said, noting the recent expansion adds the equivalent capacity of a medium-sized refinery. Technip Energies (formerly TechipFMC PLC) provided engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of four units added as part of the expansion—including an atmospheric pipe still, kerosine hydrotreater, diesel hydrotreater, and benzene recovery unit—while KBR Inc. delivered EPC services for the project offsites and interconnecting units. **Permian oil-field growth continues** In its earnings presentation for fourth-quarter 2022 and preliminary results for yearend 2022, ExxonMobil said it increased year-over-year net production from the Permian by about 90,000 boe/d to about 550,000-560,000 boe/d, with overall production from its regional operations anticipated to reach more than 600,000 boe/d during 2023. By 2027, the operator said it plans to grow Permian output to about 1 million boe/d amid ongoing improvements in capital efficiency, lower costs, higher resource recovery, and better environmental performance. **ExxonMobil confirmed that by the end of fourth-quarter 2022 it had eliminated routine flaring from its Permian operations by 100% as part of the company’s efforts to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the region by 2030.** #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **SEE ALSO:** [Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts,](https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/03/19/willow-oil-project-in-alas… faces-legal-challenges-economic-doubts/) Gaye Taylor, The Energy Mix, March 19, 2023 URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/22/exxonmobil-completes-major- refinery-expansion-in-east-texas/>

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Local Emergency Planning was Inadequate at East Palestine, OH
by Frack Check WV: admin 21 Mar '23

21 Mar '23

# [Local Emergency Planning was Inadequate at East Palestine, OH](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/21/local-emergency-planning-was- inadequate-at-east-palestine-oh/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/CE12BAE3-402A-4F62-82A6-8553D18249CA.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/CE12BAE3-402A-4F62-82A6-8553D18249CA.jpeg) Norfolk Southern Railroad train wreck involved the release of highly toxic chemicals **Ohio Train Derailment Raises Questions about Local Disaster Planning Across the USA** From the [Author ~ Michael Barrick, Appalachian Chronicle,](https://appalachianchronicle.com/2023/03/12/ohio-train-derailme… raises-questions-about-local-disaster-preparedness/) March 12, 2023 EAST PALESTINE, OHIO – As the people of East Palestine attempt to put their lives back together following the crash of a Norfolk Southern freight train full of hazardous chemicals in their tiny community on Feb. 3, 2023, politicians have expressed outrage. Lacking initiative, though, little if nothing will result from the faux anger of the politicians owned by corporate interests. So, it’s up to the local citizens to start asking some tough questions if they hope to have their community recover from this tragedy. In short, the last people needed in East Palestine are politicians. They are simply in the way of rescue and recovery efforts. What the citizens do need is greater awareness of how prepared local emergency response officials were for this predictable event. They are in the best position to know the community’s hazards and how response and recovery should unfold for them. Or are they? If, like far too many other communities across the nation, they have put emergency planning on the back burner, then they, too, have culpability in a disastrous incident. So, the people of East Palestine – and any community in the United States – need to first understand how community preparedness and response is supposed to work. Then, they need to start asking questions of their county leaders to see if their community is aligned with best practices. **All Disasters Begin and End Locally** It is a maxim among emergency preparedness officials that “all disasters begin and end locally.” Whether it is literally a local disaster because it impacts only a local community or segment of it, so it is also true with massive natural and man-made disasters. One never knows when or where the horribly unexpected – a tornado, a school shooting, or a train derailment – will happen in their own backyard. The recent disaster in East Palestine is the ultimate example of this principle. While there has been understandable community anger with Norfolk Southern officials, there are others who are also responsible for the response that happened when those cars left the track – local emergency officials. That is because, as we see from this disaster, it does not matter where the train originated or where it was headed. When it crashed, it impacted a local community. Indeed, as the news cycle moves on, the eventual final phase of the disaster management process – recovery – will be lead and done by local people. That community should have response plans in place for just such a potential disaster. As of this writing, I am not familiar enough to know exactly how well local emergency officials in East Palestine prepared, practiced and ultimately responded to the train derailment. Whatever the case there, it certainly raises a number of issues and questions for local citizens to be asking of their own community leaders. Those questions are beyond legitimate; they are essential. **Local Emergency Planning Committee** The first question to ask is, “Does our county have a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)? If the answer is “Yes,” then that leads to several follow-up questions (below); if the answer is “No,” then your community definitely has a problem. The lack of an LEPC calls into question why and how any decisions regarding emergency community preparedness (not to mention disaster response) are made. But it is one that can be solved by asking the right questions, ensuring that federal and state laws are being followed, and then working collaboratively to set up the structure and mechanisms to establish a functional and active LEPC. And, even if your community has an LEPC, it has a requirement to encourage citizen involvement, allowing for independent community input and probing questions to ensure that the safety of the citizens is being seriously considered and addressed by local emergency preparedness officials. **LEPC History** Initially LEPCs were set up to monitor one specific hazard in their communities – hazardous materials. In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). “Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Local or Tribal Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs or TEPCs) must develop an emergency response plan, review the plan at least annually, and provide information about chemicals in the community (emphasis added) to citizens. Plans are developed by these emergency planning committees with stakeholder participation.” Membership is to include elected state, local, and tribal officials; police, fire, civil defense, and public health professionals; environment, transportation, and hospital officials; facility representatives; and, representatives from community groups and the media. **The National Incident Management System (NIMS)** For 15 years, monitoring and developing emergency response and evacuation plans to hazardous materials incidents remained the only responsibility of LEPCs. All of that changed after September 11, 2001. In response to the terrorist attacks that day, President George W. Bush directed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish the National Incident Management System (NIMS). On March 1, 2004, DHS rolled out NIMS. The establishment of NIMS dramatically expanded the roles and responsibilities of LEPCs. After years of focusing on only one community hazard, they were now charged with considering every potential hazard their community faces. They are now charged with utilizing an “all hazards” approach. To accomplish that, the LEPC develops a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis. **Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA)** From the HVA, an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is developed. It is the document guiding all planning, exercises, responses and recovery by local officials, often in collaboration with regional, state and national partners. According to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service, a “Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) is a systematic approach to identifying all hazards that may affect an organization, assessing the risk (probability of hazard occurrence and the consequence for the organization) associated with each hazard and analyzing findings to create a prioritized comparison of hazard vulnerabilities. The consequence, or vulnerability, is related to both the impact on organizational function and the likely service demands created by hazard impact.” For instance, potential hazards could be identified as human-related events, naturally-occurring events, technological/industrial events, and hazardous materials events. Together, emergency response officials from the county, first responders, hospitals, utility companies, police, fire and public health will collaborate, considering their community’s hazards. Some questions considered when compiling an HVA include: What is the probability an event will happen and what is its severity? What will be its magnitude? How it will impact human health and lives, the land, property and businesses? What capabilities does the community have to respond to these possibilities? Are there Mutual Aid Agreements in place to assist when a logistical need can’t be met locally? Evidence of a Functional and Active LEPC Without a functioning and active LEPC, your community is at greater risk than it should be when disaster strikes. It is also out of compliance with federal law. So, citizens interested in ensuring that their LEPC is up to its task need to find out the status of their LEPC. Start by asking if your county has an LEPC. If the answer is no, that needs to be addressed immediately. Offer to work with the commissioners to rectify the problem, but do not hesitate to reach out to state and federal authorities to see that the county commission establishes a functional and active LEPC. If the answer is yes, there will be evidence to support it. There will be minutes proving that it meets regularly, a list of members aligned with federal membership guidelines, a written HVA, and a written Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Ask to see copies of them. The EOP should include (at least): How to activate the plan, including identifying who has authority to do so; Guidelines for establishing an Incident Management Team (IMT) / Emergency Operations Center (EOC) with proper FEMA certifications; Guidelines for establishing Safety & Security measures A Crisis Communications plan; Staff Roles & Credentialing (One’s daily work may change quite dramatically during a disaster); Resources & Assets Evacuation Plans; Guidelines for Monitoring Vulnerable Populations; An Exercise & Evaluation program that includes a full range of community drills and exercises regularly; Mutual Aid Agreements & Memorandums of Understanding; Beware of Obstacles While you have the right to expect cooperation from county commissioners and Authorities Having Jurisdiction, you may, upon the rare occasion, find a person reluctant to honor their obligation to be transparent. In that event, ask the person what statute supports their decision to withhold information from you. Lacking one, you are entitled to the information gathered by the LEPC. Additionally, it is not uncommon for corporate interests to exercise a quiet but out-sized influence upon the decisions made by the LEPC. Remember that anything presented at an LEPC meeting is part of the public record, so to ensure that the voice of grassroots citizens are heard, ask the county commission to appoint you to the LEPC. © Michael M. Barrick, 2023. Barrick holds a post-graduate Certificate in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. He also has experience as an EMT/Paramedic and served as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator and Safety Officer in two hospitals. An experienced teacher, Barrick provides training in developing, implementing, assessing and maintaining Emergency Operations Plans for community, emergency response agencies, hospitals, nonprofits and corporations. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/21/local-emergency-planning-was- inadequate-at-east-palestine-oh/>

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‘SYNTHESIS REPORT’ on Climate Crisis Coming Today from UNITED NATIONS
by Frack Check WV: Diana Gooding 20 Mar '23

20 Mar '23

# [‘SYNTHESIS REPORT’ on Climate Crisis Coming Today from UNITED NATIONS](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/20/%e2%80%98synthesis- report%e2%80%99-on-climate-crisis-coming-today-from-united-nations/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/4A10F360-84B6-437E-8718-5357178C8005.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/4A10F360-84B6-437E-8718-5357178C8005.jpeg) The all-important ‘synthesis report’ will be the primary working document for the next 10 years **Nations approve key UN science report on climate change** News from Article by [Frank Jordans, ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/fight-science-holds-key- climate-report-97971652), March 19, 2023 **ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new U.N. report on climate change, after approval was held up by a battle between rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to vulnerable nations.** **The report by hundreds of the world’s top scientists was supposed to be approved by government delegations on Friday at the end of a weeklong meeting in the Swiss town of Interlaken.** The closing gavel was repeatedly pushed back as officials from big nations such as China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the European Union haggled through the weekend over the wording of key phrases in the text. The report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change caps a series that digests vast amounts of research on global warming compiled since the Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015. **A summary of the report was approved early Sunday but agreement on the main text dragged on for several more hours** , with some observers fearing it might need to be postponed. The unusual process of having countries sign off on a scientific report is intended to ensure that governments accept its findings as authoritative advice on which to base their actions. At the start of the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on delegates to provide “ cold, hard facts ” to drive home the message that there's little time left for the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. While average global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 Celsius since the 19th century, Guterrres insisted that the 1.5-degree target limit remains possible "with rapid and deep emissions reductions across all sectors of the global economy.” Observers said the IPCC meetings have increasingly become politicized as the stakes for curbing global warming increase, mirroring the annual U.N. climate talks that usually take place at the end of the year. Among the thorniest issues at the current meeting were how to define which nations count as vulnerable developing countries, making them eligible for cash from a “loss and damage” fund agreed on at the last U.N. climate talks in Egypt. Delegates have also battled over figures stating how much greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut by over the coming years, and how to include artificial or natural carbon removal efforts in the equations. As the country that has released the biggest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since industrialization, the United States has pushed back strongly against the notion of historic responsibility for climate change. **The U.N. plans to publish the report at a news conference early Monday afternoon, March 20th.** ___ **SEE ALSO:** [What is the IPCC AR6 synthesis report and why does it matter?](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/19/what-is-the-ip… ar6-synthesis-report-and-why-does-it-matter) ~ Fiona Harvey, The Guardian UK, March 19, 2023 **Summary report by world’s leading climate scientists sets out actions to stave off climate breakdown** The fourth and final installment of the sixth assessment report (AR6) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists, is the synthesis report, so called because it draws together the key findings of the preceding three main sections. Together, they make a comprehensive review of global knowledge of the climate. The first three sections covered the physical science of the climate crisis, including observations and projections of global heating, the impacts of the climate crisis and how to adapt to them, and ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They were published in August 2021, February and April 2022 respectively. The synthesis report also includes three other shorter IPCC reports published since 2018, on the impacts of global heating of more than 1.5C above pre- industrial levels, climate change and land, and climate change and the oceans and cryosphere (the ice caps and glaciers). URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/20/%e2%80%98synthesis- report%e2%80%99-on-climate-crisis-coming-today-from-united-nations/>

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Chevron Seeks to Produce Safe Fuels from Plastics, But … (not so fast)
by Frack Check WV: admin 19 Mar '23

19 Mar '23

# [Chevron Seeks to Produce Safe Fuels from Plastics, But … (not so fast)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/19/chevron-seeks-to-produce-saf… fuels-from-plastics-but-%e2%80%a6-not-so-fast/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/867C24F8-D8E2-4432-AC7B-CD81E061271B.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/867C24F8-D8E2-4432-AC7B-CD81E061271B.jpeg) Fuels derived from plastics are generally toxic or worse! **This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk** From an [Article by Sharon Lerner, ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/chevron-pascagoula-pollution- future-cancer-risk), February 23, 2023 **The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a “climate- friendly” initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to agency records, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer.** **“That kind of risk is obscene,”** said Linda Birnbaum, former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “You can’t let that get out.” That risk is 250,000 times greater than the level usually considered acceptable by the EPA division that approves new chemicals. Chevron hasn’t started making this jet fuel yet, the EPA said. When the company does, the cancer burden will disproportionately fall on people who have low incomes and are Black because of the population that lives within 3 miles of the refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. ProPublica asked Maria Doa, a scientist who worked at the EPA for 30 years, to review the document laying out the risk. Doa, who once ran the division that managed the risks posed by chemicals, was so alarmed by the cancer threat that she initially assumed it was a typographical error. **“EPA should not allow these risks in Pascagoula or anywhere,” said Doa, who now is the senior director of chemical policy at Environmental Defense Fund.** In response to questions, an EPA spokesperson wrote that the agency’s lifetime cancer risk calculation is “a very conservative estimate with ‘high uncertainty,’” meaning the government erred on the side of caution in calculating such a high risk. Under federal law, the EPA can’t approve new chemicals with serious health or environmental risks unless it comes up with ways to minimize the dangers. And if the EPA is unsure, the law allows the agency to order lab testing that would clarify the potential health and environmental harms. In the case of these new plastic-based fuels, the agency didn’t do either of those things. In approving the jet fuel, the EPA didn’t require any lab tests, air monitoring or controls that would reduce the release of the cancer-causing pollutants or people’s exposure to them. **In January 2022, the EPA announced the initiative to streamline the approval of petroleum alternatives in what a press release called “part of the Biden- Harris Administration’s actions to confront the climate crisis.” While the program cleared new fuels made from plants, it also signed off on fuels made from plastics even though they themselves are petroleum-based and contribute to the release of planet-warming greenhouse gases. ** Although there’s no mention of discarded plastics in the press release or on the EPA website’s description of the program, an agency spokesperson said that it allows them because the initiative also covers fuels made from waste. The spokesperson said that 16 of the 34 fuels the program approved so far are made from waste. She would not say how many of those are made from plastic and stated that such information was confidential. All of the waste-based fuels are the subject of consent orders, documents the EPA issues when it finds that new chemicals or mixtures may pose an “unreasonable risk” to human health or the environment. The documents specify those risks and the agency’s instructions for mitigating them. But the agency won’t turn over these records or reveal information about the waste-based fuels, even their names and chemical structures. Without those basic details, it’s nearly impossible to determine which of the thousands of consent orders on the EPA website apply to this program. In keeping this information secret, the EPA cited a legal provision that allows companies to claim as confidential any information that would give their competitors an advantage in the marketplace. Nevertheless, one consent order covers a dozen Chevron fuels made from plastics that were reviewed under the program. Although the EPA had blacked out sections, including the chemicals’ names, that document showed that the fuels that Chevron plans to make at its Pascagoula refinery present serious health risks, including developmental problems in children and cancer and harm to the nervous system, reproductive system, liver, kidney, blood and spleen. **Aside from the chemical that carries a 25% lifetime risk of cancer from smokestack emissions, another of the Chevron fuels ushered in through the program is expected to cause 1.2 cancers in 10,000 people — also far higher than the agency allows for the general population. The EPA division that screens new chemicals typically limits cancer risk from a single air pollutant to 1 case of cancer in a million people. The agency also calculated that air pollution from one of the fuels is expected to cause 7.1 cancers in every 1,000 workers — more than 70 times the level EPA’s new chemicals division usually considers acceptable for workers.** In addition to the chemicals released through the creation of fuels from plastics, the people living near the Chevron refinery are exposed to an array of other cancer-causing pollutants, as reported in 2021. In that series, which mapped excess cancer risk from lifetime exposure to air pollution across the U.S., the highest chance was 1 cancer in 53 people, in Port Arthur, Texas. **The 1-in-4 lifetime cancer risk from breathing the emissions from the Chevron jet fuel is higher even than the lifetime risk of lung cancer for current smokers.** In an email, Chevron spokesperson Ross Allen wrote: “It is incorrect to say there is a 1-in-4 cancer risk from smokestack emissions. I urge you avoid suggesting otherwise.” Asked to clarify what exactly was wrong, Allen wrote that Chevron disagrees with the “characterization of language in the EPA Consent Order.” That document, signed by a Chevron manager at its refinery in Pascagoula, quantified the lifetime cancer risk from the inhalation of smokestack air as 2.5 cancers in 10 people, which can also be stated as 1 in 4. In a subsequent phone call, Allen said: “We do take care of our communities, our workers and the environment generally. This is job one for Chevron.” In a separate written statement, Chevron said it followed the EPA’s process under the Toxic Substances Control Act: “The TSCA process is an important first step to identify risks and if EPA identifies unreasonable risk, it can limit or prohibit manufacture, processing or distribution in commerce during applicable review period.” The Chevron statement also said: “Other environmental regulations and permitting processes govern air, water and handling hazardous materials. Regulations under the Clean Water, Clean Air and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts also apply and protect the environment and the health and safety of our communities and workers.” Similarly, the EPA said that other federal laws and requirements might reduce the risk posed by the pollution, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulations for worker protection, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and rules that apply to refineries. But OSHA has warned the public not to rely on its outdated chemical standards. The refinery rule calls for air monitoring only for one pollutant: benzene. The Clean Water Act does not address air pollution. And the new fuels are not regulated under the Clean Air Act, which applies to a specific list of pollutants. Nor can states monitor for the carcinogenic new fuels without knowing their names and chemical structures. We asked Scott Throwe, an air pollution specialist who worked at the EPA for 30 years, how existing regulations could protect people in this instance. Now an independent environmental consultant, Throwe said the existing testing and monitoring requirements for refineries couldn’t capture the pollution from these new plastic-based fuels because the rules were written before these chemicals existed. There is a chance that equipment designed to limit the release of other pollutants may incidentally capture some of the emissions from the new fuels, he said. But there’s no way to know whether that is happening. Under federal law, companies have to apply to the EPA for permission to introduce new chemicals or mixtures. But manufacturers don’t have to supply any data showing their products are safe. So the EPA usually relies on studies of similar chemicals to anticipate health effects. In this case, the EPA used a mixture of chemicals made from crude oil to gauge the risks posed by the new plastic-based fuels. Chevron told the EPA the chemical components of its new fuel but didn’t give the precise proportions. So the EPA had to make some assumptions, for instance that people absorb 100% of the pollution emitted. Asked why it didn’t require tests to clarify the risks, a spokesperson wrote that the “EPA does not believe these additional test results would change the risks identified nor the unreasonable risks finding.” In her three decades at the EPA, Doa had never seen a chemical with that high a cancer risk that the agency allowed to be released into a community without restrictions. “The only requirement seems to be just to use the chemicals as fuel and have the workers wear gloves,” she said. While companies have made fuels from discarded plastics before, this EPA program gives them the same administrative break that renewable fuels receive: a dedicated EPA team that combines the usual six regulatory assessments into a single report. The irony is that Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, which this initiative was meant to support, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost the production of renewable fuels. Truly renewable energy sources can be regenerated in a short period of time, such as plants or algae. While there is significant debate about whether ethanol, which is made from corn, and other plant-based renewable fuels are really better for the environment than fossil fuels, there is no question that plastics are not renewable and that their production and conversion into fuel releases climate-harming pollution. Under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard, biobased fuels must meet specific criteria related to their biological origin as well as the amount they reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum-based fuels. But under this new approach, fuels made from waste don’t have to meet those targets, the agency said. In its written statement, Chevron said that “plastics are an essential part of modern life and plastic waste should not end up in unintended places in the environment. We are taking steps to address plastic waste and support a circular economy in which post-use plastic is recycled, reused or repurposed.” **But environmentalists say such claims are just greenwashing.** Whatever you call it, the creation of fuel from plastic is in some ways worse for the climate than simply making it directly from fossil fuels. Over 99% of all plastic is derived from fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas. To produce fuel from plastics, additional fossil fuels are used to generate the heat that converts them into petrochemicals that can be used as fuel. “It adds an extra step,” said Veena Singla, a senior scientist at NRDC. “They have to burn a lot of stuff to power the process that transforms the plastic.” Less than 6% of plastic waste is recycled in the U.S. Scientists estimate that more than a million tons of that unrecycled plastic ends up in the environment each year, killing marine mammals and polluting the world. Plastic does not fully decompose; instead it eventually breaks down into tiny bits, some of which wind up inside our bodies. As the public’s awareness of the health and environmental harm grows, the plastics industry has found itself under increasing pressure to find a use for the waste. The idea of creating fuel from plastic offers the comforting sense that plastics are sustainable. But the release of cancer-causing pollution is just one of several significant problems that have plagued attempts to convert discarded plastic into new things. One recent study by scientists from the Department of Energy found that the economic and environmental costs of turning old plastic into new using a process called pyrolysis were 10 to 100 times higher than those of making new plastics from fossil fuels. The lead author said similar issues plague the use of this process to create fuels from plastics. **Chevron buys oil that another company extracts from discarded plastics through pyrolysis. Though the parts of the consent order that aren’t blacked out don’t mention that this oil came from waste plastics, a related EPA record makes this clear. The cancer risks come from the pollution emitted from Chevron’s smokestacks when the company turns that oil into fuel.** The EPA attributed its decision to embark on the streamlined program in part to its budget, which it says has been “essentially flat for the last six years.” The EPA spokesperson said that the agency “has been working to streamline its new chemicals work wherever possible.” **The New Chemicals Division, which houses the program, has been under particular pressure because updates to the chemicals law gave it additional responsibilities and faster timetables. That division of the agency is also the subject of an ongoing EPA Inspector General investigation into whistleblowers’ allegations of corruption and industry influence over the chemical approval process.** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/19/chevron-seeks-to-produce-safe- fuels-from-plastics-but-%e2%80%a6-not-so-fast/>

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West Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is worthy of support!
by Frack Check WV: admin 18 Mar '23

18 Mar '23

# [West Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is worthy of support!](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/18/west-virginia-interfaith- power-light-is-worthy-of-support/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/C847BBB3-F755-46BA- BA88-F3FDCAF79F3B-300x169.png)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/C847BBB3-F755-46BA-BA88-F3FDCAF79F3B.png) WVIPL has performed important work here in WV over the past 20 years **[Dear Friends and Supporters](https://wvipl.org/),** **We are writing to you today with important information from the[West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light](https://wvipl.org/) (WVIPL).** **Faith Climate Action Week is coming up and Interfaith Power and Light has released some great planning materials. You can find them here:** <https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/> The theme for this year is **" Living the Golden Rule: Just Transition to a Clean Energy Economy."** We hope you will check these resources out and utilize them in your faith community. The **WVIPL is on the verge of gaining independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit status**. We will be developing a Board of Directors with officers. If you have the time and interest in helping out, please contact Robin Blakeman at _rbrobinjh(a)gmail.com_ , and include “ **WVIPL leadership** ” in the subject line of your email. With spring just around the corner, a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, we thank you for your support and extend an ongoing invitation to be involved in the important work of caring for our common home. **Sincerely** , _[[WVIPL Steering Committee and Staff](https://wvipl.org/)](https://wvipl.org/)_ URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/18/west-virginia-interfaith-power- light-is-worthy-of-support/>

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American Conservation Film Festival was March 10 – 12 in Shepherdstown & Elsewhere
by Frack Check WV: admin 17 Mar '23

17 Mar '23

# [American Conservation Film Festival was March 10 – 12 in Shepherdstown & Elsewhere](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/17/american-conservation-fi… festival-was-march-10-12-in-shepherdstown-elsewhere/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/564B615D-9705-415D-9E03-616827D10C3E-205x300.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/03/564B615D-9705-415D-9E03-616827D10C3E.jpeg) Mary Anne Hitt was the Main Speaker on March 12th ……. (Click this image to read it) **@[American Conservation Film Festival 2023](https://conservationfilmfest.org/) @** **Evolve Shepherdstown** (106 W. German Street) is the festival’s pop-up headquarters, a place for guests to pop in and meet representatives from conservation groups like **Solar Holler, Sky Truth, Trout Unlimited, WV Rivers, Garden Stewards, and Oak Springs Garden Foundation.** Film stars and filmmakers were popping in throughout the weekend, including the on-screen personalities from Hellbent and Little Stream, Big Magic, and filmmaker Neil Losin of sym•bee•o•sis. At 1pm on Sunday afternoon, Shepherdstown resident **Mary Anne Hitt** , international climate advocate and activist, read an excerpt from her essay included in **”All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis”**. At 2pm, we learned more about West Virginia’s native brook trout and star of the film, “ **Little Stream, Big Magic** ” from **Than Hitt** , research biologist. Did you miss the art installation “ **School of Trout** ” created by fourth grade students at Shepherdstown Elementary School. Over 50 beautifully collaged trout greeted visitors to Evolve all weekend. Admission was free. Evolve was open Sat & Sun 11AM to 5PM. #######+++++++#######+++++++######## **The[American Conservation Film Festival](https://conservationfilmfest.org/action-opportunities/) 2023** If you value exceptional filmmaking on stories that literally change lives and an organization devoted to the curation and presentation of those stories, please consider a donation to ACFF. We so appreciate your support and look forward to fulfilling our mission for years to come. And we send each of you our wishes for your well-being and continued engagement with the things that bring you joy and solace. **ACFF Environmental Efforts Throughout the Year** Whenever possible, our staff works from home offices in order to reduce fuel demand and pollution. To reduce environmental impacts, staff has reduced their intake of meat and dairy and some are vegetarian. Some of our staff has invested in zero emission, hybrid vehicles and walk to the office, weather permitting. For long distance business trips, carpooling or public transportation is utilized as much as possible. Meetings are often conducted using video conferencing with Zoom or via conference call to cut down on driving. There is more …. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/17/american-conservation-film- festival-was-march-10-12-in-shepherdstown-elsewhere/>

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Activities Underway in West Virginia to Address the PFAS Issues ~ Traces are Toxic
by Frack Check WV: admin 16 Mar '23

16 Mar '23

# [Activities Underway in West Virginia to Address the PFAS Issues ~ Traces are Toxic](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/16/activities-underway-in- west-virginia-to-address-the-pfas-issues-traces-are-toxic/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/8371E544-6E6F-47DA-A0CD-A616331F0876.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/8371E544-6E6F-47DA-A0CD-A616331F0876.jpeg) Delegate Evan Hansen provides leadership on this PFAS legislation **State will get $18 million in federal funds to deal with PFAS chemicals in drinking water** From the [Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post (Yahoo! News)](https://news.yahoo.com/state-18-million-federal-funds-023100710.html), March 15, 2023 **MORGANTOWN — West Virginia will receive more than $18 million in federal funds to address the presence of potentially toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water.** State Health Officer Matthew Christiansen shared that news during Gov. Jim Justice's Wednesday administration update press briefing. Justice was reviewing legislation completed during the recent session, and HB 3189 — the PFAS bill — is awaiting his signature. **Christiansen reminded listeners that the U.S. EPA recently set maximum contaminant levels for two members of the PFAS family — PFOA and PFOS — at 4 parts per trillion. EPA also recommended calculations for four other PFAS compounds.** Expecting that to happen, the Department of Health and Human Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection formed a working group to help local water systems develop plans to treat drinking water for PFAS. Christiansen's bureau is part of DHHR and he said, "The Bureau for Public Health is committed to ensuring safe water for the citizens of West Virginia." **The EPA announced that the $18 million will come to the state, Christiansen said. The money can be used for a wide variety of actions, including research, testing treatment, source water control, restructuring, consolidation and technical assistance.** The working group will offer support and avenues for communication, and help local systems with best practices and mitigation, he said. **HB 3189 is the PFAS Protection Act, targeting PFAS in drinking water. It follows on the heels of a Department of Environmental Protection Study ordered in 2020, performed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Under prior EPA drinking water advisory numbers, 37 of the state's 279 raw water intakes had PFAS levels above those set by EPA. Under the new thresholds, 100 more sites exceeded the level, for a total of 137.** **Now, DEP will go back, resample the finished (treated) water from those sites and try to determine the sources. Industries that use PFAS chemicals must report their usage to the DEP. And DEP will, to the extent data is available, consider ways to address the sources and mitigate the impacts on public water systems.** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/16/activities-underway-in-west- virginia-to-address-the-pfas-issues-traces-are-toxic/>

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